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New Democrat leader Adrian Dix has thrown a bone to the provinces mayors, saying if elected premier, he would establishing a standalone ministry for local government. While addressing the mayors caucus in Prince George about his platform Tuesday, Dix fi elded questions from the municipal leaders about things like infrastructure funding, engagement with small and rural communities, and the downloading of responsibilities to municipalities. Dix and Clark hit the road Tuesday, taking their election campaigns out of the Lower Mainland and into the prov-inces Interior as the mid-point of the campaign passed. Dix was the only provincial leader to accept the invitation to attend the mayors caucus meeting. Dix said a separate ministry for municipal affairs would allow the government to work more closely with local governments, prompting applause from the 70 mayors around the room. However, the NDP leader remains uncommitted to matching federal funding for infrastructure projects. Its absolutely criti-cal that we have federal, provincial and local governments contributing on infrastructure projects and there are a lot

of those behind schedule, said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. We need the province to step up. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts also said Dixs promise of using existing carbon tax revenue to fund transit doesnt go far enough to meet regional needs. Clark spent the day in Vancouver, Cranbrook and Kimberley to drive home her theme that a Dix New Democrat government means out-of-control spending, endless defi cits and more taxes. She toured a major metal fabrication shop in Cranbrook that employs between 60 and 100 workers. Fab-Rite Services Ltd., builds metal structures for the forest, mining and oil and gas industries. At one point in the factory tour she spoke with machinist Adrian Plant, who explained how he operates a metal press machine. Plant said he was thrilled to meet the premier, but said he rarely votes. That was a fi rst for me, he said. She seemed very down to earth. Clark held a news conference on the factory fl oor sur-rounded by about a dozen workers. She said the NDP is

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Just days after an alleged plot to attack Via Rail was foiled, the Harper government has passed legislation that grants police extra powers in the fi ght against terrorism but ones that come at a controversial cost to civil liberties in Canada. S-7, the Combat-ting Terrorism Act, should become law in a matter of months, if not weeks, after clearing the Commons on Wednesday even-ing. It was previously passed in the Senate. The bill resurrects two anti-terrorism powers that Parliament granted to Canadian authorities after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but expired in 2007 because they were time-limited provisions and the mi-nority Conservative government lacked the votes to extend them. Neither measure had been used. The law will allow police to detain people pre-emptively and hold them for as long as three days without charges and would give authorities power to com-pel testimony through so-called investigative hearings at which

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Musharraf banned frompolitics for life

Sarabjit Singh loses battle for life

MQM, ANP, PPP compelled to restrict their activities: Sattar

A Pakistani court has imposed a lifetime ban on former presi-dent Pervez Musharraf from contesting elections, the latest blow since he returned from exile to make a political come-back.The Peshawar High Court handed down the lifetime ban Tuesday after hearing an appeal by Musharrafs lawyer to al-low him to run in the upcoming election.The former dictator [Musharraf] had ordered senior judges and their families be put under house arrest and twice abro-gated the countrys constitution, Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan said when reading out the order. Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March, planning to stand in May 11 vote after four years in self-imposed exile. But, judges barred him from running and put him under house arrest in connec-tion with a pair of court cases against him.One involves his decision to fi re senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, while in power. The other

relates to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Government prosecutors have accused Mush-arraf of being involved - allegations he has denied.Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999 when he was serv-ing as army chief and ruled for nearly a decade. He stepped down in 2008 because of growing discontent with his rule. One of Musharrafs lawyers, Saad Shibli, said he would go to the Supreme Court to challenge Tuesdays ruling, claiming the former leader should not be singled out for punishment for his actions while in power since others were involved. About 500 offi cials at different levels and institutions were part of Musharrafs actions, and if those actions come under scrutiny, all those people should be involved in this matter, Shibli said.It was the fi rst time a court in Pakistan had declared a citizen ineligible from running for public offi ce for life.On April 20, a court remanded the former president in custody for two weeks, a deadline set to expire on May 4, as judges pushed ahead with plans to put Musharraf on trial for a crack-down on the judiciary during his time in offi ce. On Tuesday, an anti-terrorism court in the garrison city of Rawalpindi put Musharraf on a 14-day judicial remand for charges of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto before her assassina-tion.The new deadline of May 14 means Musharraf will be in de-tention on election day.The elections are seen as a key moment in Pakistans attempts to shake off a legacy of decades of military rule as they rep-resent the fi rst time a democratically elected civilian govern-ment has completed a term in offi ce.Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, is seen as the front runner.

Indian spy Sarabjit Singh passed away in Jinnah Hospital on late Wednesday night, DawnNews reported.According to hospital authorities, so far the postmortem has not been conducted and the body has been moved to the morgue. Hos-pital sources said the postmortem would be conducted soon and a medical team is being constituted. Further le-

gal formalities would be carried out accordingly.A convicted Indian spy on death row, 49 year-old Singh was attacked on April 26, Friday by two inmates in Kot Lakhpat jail when he left his barracks for a stroll.

He suffered severe injuries in the head. Singh was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Jinnah Hospital where a medi-cal board comprising senior neurosurgeons was treating him.According to a report published in Dawn earlier, the prisoners assaulted Singh with bricks and other blunt weapons and left him seriously injured. A medical board was constituted for his treatment and he was put on a ventilator. His family members meanwhile had fl own in from India.Singh had illegally crossed into Pakistan on Aug 29, 1990. He was arrested on charges of carrying out four bombings in Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore which killed 14 Pakistani citizens. He was later sentenced to death.Singhs security was tightened after the recent execution in India of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the 2001 terror attack on the parliament.Singhs mercy petitions were rejected by courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.The outgoing PPP-led government put off Singhs execution for an indefi nite period in 2008.Source: The News

MQM leader Farooq Sattar has said that his party, ANP and PPP have been compelled to restrict their activities while open fi eld has been provided to other political parties to run their election campaigns.Addressing a press conference here at Mardan House Farooq Sattar said that sev-enty MQM workers were killed in Karachi and Hyderabad in last forty fi ve days.Meanwhile, ANP leader Shahid Syed asked Ulema to issue fatwa against the terrorists.Speaking on the occasion, the PPP leader Rehman Malik said that the terrorists want-ed to keep the three parties out of elections.He said that war against terror would con-tinue till elimination of terrorism. The PPP also remained victim of the terrorists in past, he added.Source: Geonews

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Bangladesh death toll could hit 1,300,

say police

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Myanmar panel urges more troops in Rakhine,

Karzai admits receiving CIA cash

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his national security team has been receiving pay-ments from the US government for the past 10 years. Karzai confi rmed the payments on Monday when he was asked about a story pub-lished in The New York Times saying the CIA had given the Afghan National Security Coun-cil tens of millions of dollars in monthly pay-ments delivered in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags. During a news confer-ence in Helsinki, Finland, where he was on an offi cial visit, Karzai said the welcome monthly payments were not a big amount but were a small amount, although he did not disclose the sums. He said they were used to give assistance to the wounded and sick, to pay rent for housing and for other operational purposes. He said the aid had been very useful, and we are grate-ful for it. The newspaper quotes Khalil Ro-man, who served as Mr. Karzais deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005, as calling the vast

CIA payments ghost money that came in secret, and it left in secret. It also quotes unidentifi ed American offi cials as saying that the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washing-tons exit strategy from Afghani-stan. In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to comment on the report, referring questions to the CIA, which also de-clined comment. In 2010, Iran ac-knowledged that it had been sending funds to neighbouring Afghanistan for years, but said the money was

intended to aid reconstruction, not to buy infl u-ence in Karzais offi ce. The Afghan president confi rmed he was receiving millions of dollars in cash from Iran and that Washington was giv-ing him bags of money, too, because his of-fi ce lacked funds. At the time, President Barack Obamas press secretary, Robert Gibbs, denied that the US government was in the big bags of cash business, but former US State Depart-ment spokesman P.J. Crowley had said earlier that some of the American aid to Afghanistan was in cash. US offi cials also asserted then that the money fl owing from Tehran was proof that Iran was playing a double game in Afghanistan - wooing the government while helping Taliban fi ghting US and NATO forces. Iran denied that. Afghanistan is rated by Transparency Interna-tional as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.Source: Al-Jazeera

A government-appointed commission has pro-posed to double the number of security forces in western Myanmars Rakhine state to ease ten-sions there in the wake of deadly sectarian vio-lence last year. The report, released on Monday, also recommended the introduction of family planning programmes to stem population growth among minority Muslims, cited as a reason for increased hostility from Rakhine Buddhists in the area. It emphasised, however, that if the government went ahead with a proposed family planning programme, it should refrain from im-plementing non-voluntary measures which may be seen as discriminatory or that would be incon-sistent with human rights standards. The long-awaited report contained responses to the vio-lence last June and October that killed nearly 200 people and left 140,000 homeless, mostly Roh-ingya Muslims in an area dominated by ethnic Buddhists. The committee said it was unlikely the estimated 100,000 displaced Rohingya Mus-lims would be returned to their homes anytime soon, saying the widespread segregation of Bud-dhists and Muslims is a temporary fi x that must be enforced for now. The violence appeared to begin spontaneously, but by October had mor-phed into anti-Muslim pogroms across western Rakhine state that spread last month into cen-tral Myanmar. President Thein Sein appointed the 27-member panel last year to investigate the causes of the confl ict and recommend measures to prevent further violence. The panel included former political prisoners, Christians, a Hindu, Muslims, and Rakhine Buddhists, but did not include any Rohingya Muslims. Overcrowding, poor sanitation and malnutrition were said to be of critical concern particularly in camps for Roh-ingya whom the report referred to as Bengalis, a reference to their reported South Asian roots. Shwe Maung, a Rohingya member of parliament from Rakhine state, objected to the commis-sions terminology, saying that the word Ben-

gali fails to refl ect reality and peoples sense of their own identity. The report is unfair, he said. The usage and recommendations are similar to what Rakhine ethnic people have been demand-ing. The report also calls for all ethnic groups to learn the Myanmar language. Phil Robertson, the Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director, welcomed calls for more aid for the camps, but said the offi cial report should have addressed al-legations of authorities involvement in ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Dou-bling the number of security forces in [Rakhine] state without fi rst ensuring implementation of reforms to end those forces impunity is a po-tential disaster, he said. Robertson said family planning initiatives could be problematic if they are not implemented carefully. Its quite chill-ing to start talking about limiting births of one particular group, he said. The report also called for a crackdown on hate speech and stepped-up aid for the displaced ahead of monsoon rains expected in May, and urged the government to determine the citizenship status of all those liv-ing in Rakhine state. The issue has posed a ma-jor challenge to the government of Thein Sein, who took offi ce after a long-ruling military junta stepped down two years ago and has since em-barked upon a series of reforms. Most Rohingya are effectively stateless despite the fact that some have lived in Myanmar for generations. Predom-inantly Buddhist Myanmar does not include Ro-hingya as one of its 135 recognised ethnicities. Last week, Human Rights Watch issued the most comprehensive and detailed account yet of what happened in Rakhine state last year. The report accused authorities, including Buddhist monks, local politicians and government offi cials, and state security forces, of fomenting an organised campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Ro-hingya.Source: Al-Jazeera

BC ELECTION : Continued from pg 1

The scale of the suffering wrought by the collapse of an eight-storey build-ing in Bangladesh became clearer yesterday Monday when it emerged that almost 1,300 people could have died. Police said that around 900 were still missing presumed dead in the rubble of Rana Plaza, where the rescue effort has been called off. The offi cial death toll from last Wednesdays disaster stands at 384; the fi gure for the number of missing suggests the fi nal total could be more than three times higher. Thousands were inside Rana Plaza when it suddenly collapsed, including workers at four garment factories, one of which was supplying the British retailers Primark and Bonmarche. Ma-sum Khan, from the police control room responsible for compiling the death toll, said that 330 bodies had been identifi ed so far. Another 52 had not yet been named. There is not an accurate fi gure for the missing but the estimate is 900. This is based on collection from various voluntary associations, he said. There is no record of who was inside the building when it collapsed, making it impossible to calculate an exact fi gure for those unaccounted for. Sultan Ahmed, Assistant Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Stud-ies, said the scale of the loss was beyond comment and warned of social unrest if workplace safety was not given a higher priority. Sheik Hasina, the prime minister, visited the scene for the fi rst time yesterday, fi ve days after the collapse. Primark, the bargain retailer with 161 branches in Britain, promised to compensate the victims who worked for its supplier. This will include the provision of long-term aid for children who have lost parents, fi nancial aid for those injured and payments to the families of the deceased, said the company. Bonmarche, which has 360 British stores and also bought supplies from a factory inside the ruined building, did not say whether it would follow suit. Both companies have previously promised to ensure the safety of the workforce of their Bangladeshi suppliers. But Primark and Bonmarche have not yet made clear what additional steps they propose to take in the aftermath of this disaster. Benetton, the Italian fashion house, denied last week buying supplies from any factory inside Rana Plaza. After the discovery of clothes bearing its label in the rubble, however, Benetton changed its position. Yesterday, the company said: There was a one-time order that was placed with one of these manufacturers and that order was completed and shipped a month ago. The Bangladeshi government offi cially rejected offers from Britain and the United Nations to help with the rescue effort straight after the disaster. Ahmed Ali, the national fi re chief, said the government had author-ized him to accept foreign equipment but not personnel. The ministry of disaster management said that if some country can give us equipment without manpower, then we could just take the equipment. But I told them that this would waste time as if we got equipment without manpower, we would need to be trained to use the equipment, he said. Source: The Province

sending danger signals to investors and businesses with unfocused strategies on industry growth, with some candidates suggesting a two-year moratorium on natural gas expansion which the party is forced to deny. During a visit to local trades school New Caledonia College, Dix outlined his plan to invest in skills training for the mining and natural gas industries. Dix also said he would reduce the wait times for environmental assessments and Notice of Work permits. He said under the Liberal government, wait times for Notice of Work permits sat at 55 day in 2007, ballooned to 110 days, and currently sit at 88 days. Weve said as a specifi c item in our platform we would be reducing wait times to 55 days by investing in these ministries (involved) to ensure bureaucratic delays dont stand in the way of economic development, Dix told reporters. Dix brushed aside suggestions his intent to create a new ministry and expand existing ones plays into Clarks allegations that an NDP government would mean a big gov-ernment. The (current) government cuts staff to resource ministries, the results for business is doubling of wait times, he said. We need wait times in the min-ing industries to be reduced, we need to get to yes quicker and thats precisely what were doing here. Clark plans to visit 10 cities over the next three days -- Penticton, Kamloops, Williams Lake, Cranbrook and Kimberley among them. She assured her supporters its all going to go well.Source: CTV News


Hiring foreign workers should be last resort: Kenney

Canada cant account for $3.1B in anti-terror funding,

AG fi ndsThe federal government plans to tighten up the tempo-rary foreign workers program with new legislation that would require businesses to hire employees from abroad as a last resort. In a reversal of some controversial reforms to the program, the government said it will tem-porarily suspend the accelerated labour market opin-ion process that allowed some companies to fast-track the hiring of workers from abroad. Immigration Min-ister Jason Kenney also announced that employers will no longer have fl exibility to set the wages for foreign workers. Current rules allow businesses to pay foreign employees up to 15 per cent below the prevailing wage for certain types of jobs, as long as Canadian workers doing the same job in the same geographic region were earning the same. The 15-per-cent rule was introduced last year, but Kenney said it was confusing to many peo-ple and only about fi ve per cent of employers used it. Ottawa also wants to charge employers a new fee for la-bour market opinions and increase the existing fees for foreigners work permits. Under the new rules, English and French will be the only languages that can be used as a job requirement. The changes will not apply to sea-sonal programs that bring in agricultural workers from countries like Mexico, Jamaica and Nicaragua, Kenney said. Quite frankly, Canadians are not willing togo work in agricultural jobs, he told CTVs Power Play. As CTV News reported Sunday, the proposed changes would require employers to demonstrate a clear and valiant effort had been made to fi nd Canadian workers to fi ll the jobs, before looking overseas for employees. And in order to get approval to hire temporary foreign workers, employers would have to provide a plan for eventually replacing those foreign workers with Cana-dians employees. The program currently allows com-panies to hire foreign workers when Canadians citizens and permanent residents are not available for the job.

But critics have complained the program is often used simply to fi nd foreign employees willing to work for a much lower wage. Kenney told reporters Monday that the government intends to put more fi nancial pressure on employers to look for Canadian workers fi rst. He said businesses already prefer to hire Canadians be-cause it costs them thousands of dollars more to look for foreign labour. But Kenney said hes concerned about reports from some businesses, especially those in the service industry, who say that foreign workers are more productive and reliable, willing to work late and pick up extra hours. Nevertheless, Canadians should al-ways get the fi rst crack at available jobs, he said. But some business owners say the stricter rules on hiring foreign workers will bring down productivity and prof-its. Brad Mason, president of Winnipeg-based Derksen Mechanical Services, told CTV News that his company cant fi nd enough welders, pipefi tters or engineers in Canada, so the only option is to hire abroad. Without temporary foreign workerswe cant continue to grow as a company, he said. NDPs immigration critic Jinny Sims said the Conservatives reversal on some of the existing rules show that the government is listening to Canadians who have been critical of the way foreign workers are being hired and compensated. However, she said the proposed legislation is just a quick fi x and its time to take a serious, serious look at the issue. The foreign workers program came under the spotlight recently after it emerged that the Royal Bank of Canada was letting 45 employees go. At least one of those em-ployees said she was asked to train her replacement, who was coming to Toronto to learn the job before re-turning overseas. RBC had contracted the positions out through the company iGate, which specializes in train-ing and recruiting offshore labour. Source: CTV News

President Barack Obama has said the US has evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and that his administration might have to rethink the range of options available to Washington with regard to its strategy in the country. In a rare Tuesday press con-ference at the White House, Obama said the Penta-gon and other security agencies had been told to make preparations for possible action if the red line of chemical weapon use had indeed been crossed. The Assad government has been accused of using weapons loaded with nerve agents against targets in civilian ar-eas during the countrys two-year-long confl ict. Ive got to make sure Ive got the facts. Thats what the American people would expect ... If I can establish in a way that not only the United States but also the international community feel confi dent in the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, then that is a game changer, Obama said. Obama did not rule out eventual US military action, but remained cautious. By game changer, I mean we would have to rethink the range of options that are available to us. We are invested in trying to bring back a solution inside of Syria, he told reporters. Obviously, there are op-tions that are available to me that are on the shelf right now that we have not deployed, and thats a spectrum of options. Obama said as early as 2012, he had in-structed the Pentagon, military and other intelligence offi cials to prepare for me what options might be available, but would not elaborate on the details of those options. Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said public sentiment in the United

States would make direct military action highly un-likely. Referring to a recent poll, our correspondent said the vast majority of Americans do not want to see the US have any military role in Syria. Fur-ther complicating the likelihood of direct US action in the Syrian confl ict was Obamas reference to the confi dence of the international community, Culhane said. Satisfying the international community would present a much different set of requirements. Mean-while, the Syrian regime again accused rebels of using chemical weapons. Syrias UN ambassador alleged on Tuesday that opposition fi ghters had used chemi-cal material during an attack near the city of Idlib. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters the incident was an attempt to make it look as though government forces had used chemical arms. Jaafari said terrorist groups had spread seemingly the contents of plastic bags containing a kind of powder which must be most probably a chemical material. The ambassador said many people were affected by the heinous and irre-sponsible act that was an attempt to implicate the Syrian government on a false basis. The Syrian gov-ernment is refusing to let UN experts into the country to investigate whether chemical weapons have been used in the confl ict, in which the UN says more than 70,000 people have been killed. The government wants any investigation limited to its allegations that the opposition used chemical arms near the city of Aleppo last month. The United Nations and western countries want other allegations investigated.Source: Al-Jazeera

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The federal government cannot account for billions of dollars that were devoted to combatting terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks, Canadas Audi-tor-General says in a new report. Between 2001 and 2009, Ottawa award-ed $12.9-billion to 35 departments and agencies charged with ensuring the safety of Canadians to use for public security and fi ghting terrorism. The money allocated through the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Initia-tive was intended to pay for measures designed to keep terrorists out of Canada, to prosecute those found in the country, to support international initiatives, and to protect infrastructure. But Auditor-General Michael Ferguson said only $9.8-billion of that money was identifi ed in reports to the Treasury Board as having been spent specifi cally on anti-terrorism measures by the departments and agencies. The rest was not recorded as being used for that purpose. Some was moved to other priorities, and some lapsed without being spent, but the government has no full breakdown for the $3.1-billion. The matter is top-of-mind since the recent Boston bombing and last weeks arrest of two suspects in an alleged plot to de-rail a passenger train on the Toronto-New York corridor. In addition, the government has just passed legislation to beef up its anti-terrorism powers over the opposition of the NDP and civil-rights activists. Wesley Wark, an expert in security and intelligence who teaches at the University of Toronto, said it is unacceptable that the Auditor-General cannot determine exactly where this large amount of money was spent when all elements of the security and intelligence community face cuts to their budgets. The Auditor-General said departments and agencies were required to report to the Treasury Board Secretariat on how the money was spent. But when the auditors offi cials asked to see the reports, they were told they had not been prepared. In response to the auditors report, the government released several examples of PSAT funding that was allocated between 2001 and 2009 but not reported through the Treasury Board. For example, National Defence spent $510-million on military operations such as the mission in Afghanistan, and the Canada Border Services Agency spent $104-mil-lion to arm border guards, but after 2009. The government said that more than $100-million in funding lapsed at Public Safety and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, whereas the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spent $100-million of its PSAT funding on secret initiatives, with little information provided to the public. In addition, $129-million was allocated to a Marine Security Operations Centre, but the project was re-duced in scope and only $26-million was spent. Treasury Board President Tony Clement noted the program was launched under Liberals, who were in power until early 2006. Still, he acknowledged the lack of a whole of government approach to the spending, because the departments involved in the anti-terror initiatives were allowed to report individually. He agreed that the original plans to lay out the entire amount under one umbrella were not up to par, while stating that there is no evidence of wrongdoing. The biggest recipients of the $9.8-billion in anti-terror funds were CATSA ($2.8-billion), the Canadian Border Services Agency ($1.5-billion) and the Department of National Defence ($1.2-billion). The money was spent on matters such as intelligence, policing, improved screening, border security and emergency preparedness.Source: Globe and Mail


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Letters & OpinionsProtest for disqualifying and arresting

Rtd. Gen. Musharraf

Previaz Mushraf Trail

Pakistani Canadians residing in British Columbia are currently in a state of emotional discomfort as the general elections in Pakistan and provincial election in British Columbia are hardly three days apart. Those voting in Pakistan general elections cannot return to Canada on time as many hours of fl ight time and jet lag would most prob-ably disable them from becoming active enough to participate in the election process in British Colum-bia on May14. Similarly, the British Columbians of Pakistani origin cannot elect any politician to the provincial and na-tional assembly of Pakistan, as no system is in place to allow distance voting from abroad.On the contrary, many people just dont bother voting as they are de-void of the needed political sense. Its the political awareness/will that makes much of a difference for sake of common national inter-est. The ignoring attitude towards poli-tics is one of the factors responsi-ble for keeping the turnout lower.The past experience shows that the voter turnout tends to be low-est among the youth, the illiterates and the poor. When the contestants are of no integrity, and the political parties fail to persuade the potential voters with their platform or manifesto, the turnout is bound to be low. Eventually, trust defi cit develops due to non delivery by the politi-cians during their tenure in public offi ce. This scenario keeps the vot-ers away from casting their ballot.Nevertheless, low voter turnout is good for the insincere and in-effi cient politicians. That simply

means the fl awed democratic sys-tem doesnt refl ect the interests of all citizens. And, the low turnout cannot be other than some kind of political strategy where the politi-cal parties intentionally keep the voters away from ballot boxes us-ing negative ads against the oppo-nents. The practice of demoralizing through criticising their leaders is meant to change opinions of the potential opposition supporters (voters).In fact, some stakeholders are in-terested to control the media, and they also fi nance the political par-ties of their choice just to carry on with their dirty politics of fear aimed at dividing the electorate. The fact is election does provide an opportunity to the people to voice their free opinion and make their needs known under the law and the constitution of the land. Truth is our vote is our voice, thus we must be heard, loud and clear.Elections belong to the people. Its their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fi re and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters. Abraham Lincoln Indeed, the youth of today are more knowledgeable and better connected regardless of ethnic background. They are also more adaptable to progressive change. Surely, they have a positive role to play for their better future. Using the election route is the best opportunity to fi lter out the rogue politicians and pick up just the good elite only. Obviously, the cheaters/repeaters stand no chance as they are rejected through free and fair ballot process. But if the crooks still make it through the

lack of vigilance on the part of vot-ers or through using pressure tac-tics, then they have their own hid-den agenda instead of serving the constituents. Thats why; the voters must reject the dishonest candidates without fear of reprisals.The dirty politicians cant be al-lowed to play racial ethnicity or using religion in order to create confusion or otherwise manipulate the voters. The people, wherever they are, they must use their democratic vote power to oust coercion, ma-nipulation, discrimination in any form including Islamophobia and the dirty politics.Just the honest and capable candi-dates should be voted in to allow a healthy democratic process at all levels including provincial and the national ones. Since the youth of today are lead-ers of tomorrow; they must come out and exercise their right of vote. An overhaul of the fl awed system can address the issue of lower turn-out. Unfairness towards Pakistanis ex-patriates: Its extremely frustrating that more than four million forgot-ten patriotic Pakistanis (expats) have to live abroad for economic reasons. Despite their marvellous economic contribution through re-mittances, they are excluded from the electoral process for no fault of theirs. In this regard, the supreme court of Pakistan recently pointed out that the Pakistani community based overseas was extremely eager to vote. A three member bench headed by the CJP Justice Iftikhar Moham-mad Chaudhry heard the case

pertaining to giving overseas Pa-kistanis the right to vote. The ECP has already unanimously decided that the federation of Pakistan would propose the required legis-lation to give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote, adding that it was not possible to provide the facil-ity for the upcoming general elec-tions. (Pak Channels).Of course, many expats take keen interest in Pakistan; they donated generously during times of fl oods & earthquakes. They support Pa-kistani charities and make the na-tional economy running through remittances. If such is the case, they deserve to be entitled to vote too. Unfortunately, the expats can-not vote in the upcoming election without a temporary legislation in place. The ground reality about Pakistan is the rising election fever grips Pakistan, so does the terrorism. Under the circumstances, many potential voters would prefer to stay indoors to avoid risk to their lives. The election commission of Pakistan (ECP) says, The candi-dates should be provided with an atmosphere in which they can con-duct their campaigns without any fear. The ECP is concerned over the attacks on election offi ces and candidates. The expected Poll Day violence poses serious threat to the voting public.As expected, the presence of Pak army troops would encourage a high voter turnout and that can eas-ily produce a good legislature in the federation and in all provinces as well. The expats may contribute further by convincing their loved ones back home to fully participate in the electoral process on May 11, so that the people friendly gov-

ernments and the legislatures are formed.Its about time for the British Co-lumbians and for the Pakistanis to keep awake and be vigilant when it comes to holding the candidates accountable through vote on May 11 (Pak elections) and May 14 (B.C. elections) respectively.A positive environment consisting of educated and politically aware people is a must to generate the best voter turnout.

Waan laysa lil insaniilla ma saaa

That man can have nothing but what he strives for.

Issue of Turnout

Editorial & LettersInt. NewsLocalPolitics FaithArticlesHome and Garden LifestyleHealthSportsUrdu

64,59-15167,817,19,282225262930-40

To Nina Grewal, MP B.C., Canada

Dear Madam,As a concerned Canadian of Pa-kistani origin and All Pakistan Muslim League (AMPL) Coor-dinator for Western Canada, I am shocked to hear the news of disqualifying our Leader Gen-eral (R) Pervez Musharraf from contesting elections in Pakistan. Further, he has been put under house arrest upon charges of Terrorism, what a joke!The entire world is well aware of the fact that President Mush-arraf has been a front fi ghter against terrorism. He has been denied bail in Pakistan on the charges of Terrorism. He was facing charges to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007. The pre-siding judge added terrorism to the charges, accusing Musharraf of spreading Terror throughout Pakistan. Cancellation of bail

and addition of Terrorism to the charges is a clear indication of the bad intent of the judiciary; moreover, they have also put Musharfs name on ECL (Exit Control List) The trial will be heard by an anti-terrorism court. Such courts are closed to the me-dia and the public.President Musharraf is perhaps the only former Army Chief and President who has voluntarily appeared before the courts and followed the norms of the legal procedures. Pakistan judiciary is working upon personal vendetta and taking care of the vested in-terests of certain political par-ties. The entire world is taking note of this imbalance.Pakistans stability is necessary for the peace of entire world. Pa-kistans total law and order situ-ation is already shattered and I hope that sanity prevails sooner than later to stop triggering pos-sibility of clashes on the streets which may fuel further deterio-

ration of law and order.Such actions revealing clear bi-ased attitude of the judiciary need to be addressed at the In-ternational level. It is imperative that Musharraf must be given a fair chance to contest elections in Pakistan and let be discard-ed by the people following the norms of democracy.On behalf of all the members of APML in Western Canada and well wishers on president Mush-araf, I would request you to dis-play concern of the Government of Canada in favor of General (R) Pervez Musharraf who bold-ly fought against terrorism. Thank you and best regards,Liaqat Bajwa (Coordinator for Western Canada)

By: R.C. PURI, SurreyThere is an old proverbial saying

that the justice should not only be administered, but it should be further seen to be administered. However, in Pakistan neither the election commission, nor the higher judiciary appear to be ad-hering to this cardinal principal in the matter of Pervez Mushar-raf, the former President of Paki-stan. Both appear to be in venge-ance mode against him. Whereas the former has declared the for-mer President ineligible to par-ticipate and lead his party All Pa-kistan Muslim League (APML) in the ensuing General Elections, the later has virtually paved the way for his going behind the bars by cancelling his interim bails

Continued on pg 10

E D I T O R I A L


Truthfulness is a vast curriculum

Haidth for April 5: Narrated Ata bin Yasar: Ibn Abbas performed ablution and washed his face (in the following way): He ladled out a handful of water, rinsed his mouth and washed his nose with it by putting in water and then blowing it out. He then, took another handful (of water) and did like this (gesturing) joining both hands, and washed his face, took another handful of water and washed his right forearm. He again took another handful of water and washed his left forearm, and passed wet hands over his head and took another handful of water and poured it over his right foot (up to his ankles) and washed it thoroughly and similarly took another handful of water and washed thoroughly his left foot (up to the ankles) and said, I saw Allahs Apostle performing ablution in this way. 142: Sahih Bukhari.

By: Salman Al-Awdah

O YOU who be-lieve! Have taqwa

with Allah, and be among the truthful.

(Al-Quran, 9:119)Many people understand

truthfulness to mean truth-fulness of the tongue through

speech alone. In reality, truth-fulness is a vast curriculum. It is

as much one of the characteristics of the Muslims personality both outward and inward, as it is his speech and action. From it are the following:Truthfulness in conveying the religionThat is, one must profess the cor-rect belief built upon truthfulness with Allah the Almighty, not upon hypocrisy, deceit and patroniza-tion. This is why truthfulness is mentioned in the Quran as the opposite of hypocrisy. That Allah may reward the truthful for their truth, and punish the hypocrites if He wills, or turn mercifully toward them ... . (Quran, 33:64)Therefore, it is necessary to pos-sess the outward Islam with the in-ward iman; it is necessary to have the correct belief in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Books, and the Messengers. The outward guidance must conform to the in-ward guidance.Here is one of the hidden plots of Satan who inspires Muslims to

neglect some of the outward good deeds under the pretense that his inner reality is not the same. So he avoids this in order to avoid de-ceiving the people! This is a huge mistake. The good deed which you perform outwardly is so because of the righteousness and truthfulness in your heart as long as you do not do it for riya [show], reputation or in order to deceive the believers.Truthfulness in speechTruthfulness in speech expresses a dignifi ed personality, manhood, insight and generosity. No one would resort to lies unless he has a wicked nature, a wicked nafs (self), and a weak personality. A good-natured individual denounc-es lie and rebukes it, which is why all of the previous revelations agreed upon the prohibition and admonition of lie. How about the Islamic preachers then, can you imagine them lying! I believe not, inshaAllah. Some of the duat may come across ambiguously by making certain statements, which some people misunderstand, then later they may fi nd out the oppo-site of what they misunderstood. Then they accuse him of lying. Besides, ambiguity may lead to the acceptance of some minor lies under the pretense that it is help-ful! So be cautious!If you are in a situation that would cause you to lie, avoid doing so, and remember the words of Abu Sufyan before King Heraclius

when he was asked about the Messenger of Allah, and he latter narrated to Muhammad (peace be upon him), I swear by Allah, if I was sure that they would not have transmitted a lie from me, I would have lied about you. (Bukhari) This man, who was an idolater at the time, avoided lying out of fear that his lying would be transmit-ted, or that he would be insulted some day because of it. He avoid-ed lying even though he needed to do so We know that the honor of todays duat has become a target for a barrage of arrows, and this is why it is necessary for the daaiya to close the door before the foul wind comes in, so that he can be safe!Truthfulness in deedsMeaning that a persons deeds have to be purely for Allahtaala without riya or seeking good rep-utation, Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join any one in the wor-ship of His Lord, and ... that He may try you; which of you is the best in deeds. (Al-Quran, 18:11 and 67:2) Fudayl ibn Ayad com-mented, ... which one of you is the best in deeds means most sincere and pertinent. He was asked, What is most sincere and pertinent? He said, If the deed is sincere and not pertinent it wont be accepted, and if it is pertinent and not sincere, it wont be accept-ed. It will not be accepted until it

is sincere and pertinent! Included among the sub-ject of truthfulness in deeds is, possessing clarity and avoiding obscurity or ambi-guity. It was reported upon the authority of Abu Dawud and Nisai that after a con-frontation with a man, when the companions refrained from standing up for him

(peace be upon him) he rebuked them, so they said, O Messenger of Allah, we dont know what is in your nafs, couldnt you signal us with your eye? He said, It is not becoming of a Prophet that he have a deceiving eye! (Abu Dawud, Nisai, Hakim, Ahmad from the hadith of Anas in which it is, A Prophet does not wink.) Tirmidhi reported that Abdullah ibn Salam said, When the Prophet, came to Madinah the people came out and said, The Messenger of Allah has come! The Messenger of Allah has come! The Messenger of Al-lah has come! So I came forward among the people to look at him (peace be upon him) and when I beheld his face I knew that his face wasnt the face of a liar. And the fi rst thing that he said was, O Peo-ple! Spread salaam, and serve the food, and pray while the people are asleep, you will enter Jannah peacefully. (Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)The truthfulness of the Messenger of Allah spread from his heart to his tongue ... to the extremities, it became manifest in his honorable face ... Everyone who beheld his bright vision saw truthfulness and was assured that his face was ab-solutely not the face of a liar! We are in need for the type of duat who transmit truthfulness with their speech and deeds so much so that truthfulness becomes natu-ral disposition swimming through their veins, emerging through their outward behavior, so that when the people see them they say, These are not the faces of liars!We are also in need of duat who are beautifi ed with moral excel-lence, who stay away from selfi sh-ness and agitation, who persevere through their tranquility, who are moderate in their manner of speak-ing in all circumstances in such a

way that the people are able to look at their c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and say, These are the characteristics of Prophets! Surely truth-fulness in carrying our dawah is a cause for people to accept our religion, and we should not be like the actor on the stage who shows the peo-ple the opposite of what he really is. In this case, the reality of such a daiya is quickly revealed and the people rush away from him.It was reported that one of the Salaf (pious predecessors) used to affect people and bring them to tears while admonishing them, to the point that you could hear them crying loudly. Yet someone else may have given a better speech in the same gathering and may have been more knowledgeable, but he could not affect their hearts nor bring them to tears! So his son asked him about this one day and his response was, The weeping of the mother who lost her beloved is not like the weeping of the one who is paid to do so.Therefore the fi rst mean for the success of the daiya is: His truth-fulness in carrying his dawah, his seriousness in it and truthfulness in words and deeds must be his method and characteristic of him. Elegant sweet words are not most important even if they are re-quired more important is truth-fulness, that he is in harmony with himself, and his speech comes from the heart.Long ago it was said: If a word comes from the heart it will land in the heart... and if it comes from the tongue it will not even pass the ears! Courtesy of : www.sunnahonline.com

F A I T H

Prayer Schedule in Greater VancouverPrayer Schedule in Greater Vancouver

For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times: Quran ,n 4:103 Source: BCMA

Day Sunr Zawal Dhuhr Asar MaghribFajar Isha2324252627282930

Rajab1234567

May 030405060708091011121314151617

Fri Sat

Sun Mon Tue

Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sun Mon Tue

Wed ThuFri

5:485:465:445:435:415:395:385:375:355:335:325:315:295:285:27

13:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:0913:09

13:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:1413:14

18:1818:1918:2018:2118:2218:2318:2418:2518:2618:2718:2818:2918:3018:3118:32

20:3520:3720:3820:3920:4120:4320:4420:4520:4620:4720:4820:4920:5120:5320:54

22:0522:0722:0822:0922:1122:1322:1422:1522:1622:1722:1822:1922:2122:2322:24

4:184:164:144:134:114:094:084:074:054:034:024:013:593:583:57

DateJ.ul II

May 3-17, 2013 (Jamadi ul Thani-23- Rajab-7, 1434H)


Al-Muhasabah - Self-InventoryF A I T H

It is necessary for an individual to pause at the end of each day that has passed, in order to check himself and run through his achievements: What has he done in the course of the day? Why has he done it? What has he omitted? Why has he omitted it?How excellent it would be if this self-crit-icism were to take place before one retired to bed.This period of self-criticism and appraisal should certainly be counted among mans moments of progress; it is a moment when man impartially sits as a judge over himself and reviews his yearnings and inclinations, his instincts and motivations. It is a moment when the believer appoints, out of his con-viction, a policeman to watch over himself, an investigator to probe him, and a judge to condemn or acquit him. In this way he progresses from the state of the soul that incites to evil to the state of the self- re-proaching soul which reproaches its owner whenever he plunges into sin, or falls short of expectation.In a hadith we quoted before it was said: It behooves any sane person to have four periods of time and one of the four peri-ods is a period in which he engages in self-criticism.The Commander of the Faithful, Umar bin al-Khattab says: Criticize and appraise yourselves before you are criticized and ap-praised on the Day of Judgment, and weigh out your deeds, before they are weighed out for you. On that Day will men proceed in groups, sorted out, to be shown their Deeds. Then shall anyone who has done an atoms weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atoms weight of evil, shall see it. (Quran 99:6-8)`Umar himself, may Allah be pleased with him, used to whip his foot at night and say to himself: Tell me, what have you done today?!Maimun bin Mahran, a famous companion of the Prophet, used to say: A pious person scrupulously examines and appraises him-self more than he would a tyrant ruler and a tight-fi sted partner!Al-Hasan said: A believer polices his own Self; he criticizes and appraises it for the sake of Allah. The Final Appraisal (Hisab) may turn out to be mild on some people simply because they were wont to appraise themselves in this life; and the Final Ap-praisal on the Day of Resurrection may turn out to be rigorous on a people who took this life with levity, and thought they would not be called to account.Then he described how this self-criticism and appraisal operates in practice: A fasci-nating thought (or idea) suddenly comes to the mind of a believer. He says to himself: By Allah this is fascinating, I need it! But no, never. Get lost! I am prohibited from executing you! (This is self-criticism and appraisal before the event).And: A believer may inadvertently do something. He would then turn to himself and say: What do you mean by this? By Al-lah, I cannot fi nd an excuse for this. I shall never repeat it, inshaAllah! (This is self-criticism and appraisal after the event).If a Believer fails to observe this brief pe-riod of soul-searching daily, then he should at least try to do so once every few days, or once a week. In this way, he draws up his life balance sheet, depicting to him his (spir-itual) assets and liabilities.A Believer should also have a longer period of this practice at the end of each month, and an even longer period at the end of the year, when he bids farewell to one year and pre-pares for and welcomes another.This is the time to critically review the Past and plan for the Future. This is the (spiritual) equivalent of his fi nal accounts for the year.One blameworthy innovation initiated by

the West and unfortunately imitated by some Muslims, is the annual birthday celebra-tion, where people are invited to a party and served with delicious food and drink.At times, people obsequiously yield to meaningless rituals and imitative practices for which Allah has sent down no authority. For example, they light a number of candles, each one representing a year in the lifetime of the celebrant. Having lit the candles, the celebrant then histrionically proceeds to blow them out. Gifts are presented and pleasantries exchanged on the occasion.Rather than this blind, useless imitation, it is better for an intelligent and sensible person to seize this occasion, which marks the ex-piry of one year of his lifetime, to reconsider and refl ect upon his life. At the end of every year, a careful trader applies the brakes in order to measure his performance over the past year, and establish his fi nancial position at the end of it. He wants to know his profi t or loss, and his assets and liabilities; i.e. his claims and the claims against him. An intel-ligent, sensible person ought to do likewise, in respect of his life. More than that, he

should beseech Allah to bless his life, make his day better than yesterday, and his tomor-row better than today.It is worthier for an intelligent and sen-sible person to call himself to account for one whole year of his life that has expired, in respect of which Allah, the Exalted, will question him. A year is not a short time. It is a period of twelve months; a month is on average thirty days; each day has twenty-four hours, each hour sixty minutes, and each minute sixty seconds. And every sec-ond should be counted as a blessing, a favor upon him from Allah and a trust from Allah in his hands.It is worthier for this intelligent and sensi-ble person to commiserate with himself over the turning of a page in the book of his life. Each day that passes is, as it were, a leaf that has withered and fallen from the tree of his life. May Allah have mercy on Al-Hasan al-Basri when he says: O son of Adam! You are but a bundle of days. As each day passes away, a portion of you vanishes away!Abu Ali ad-Daqqaq used to chant the fol-lowing lines:

Each day that pass-es, a por-tion of me it takes away, On the heart, a bitter taste it leaves, and then glides away.Another poet says:Man rejoices as long as the nights continue to pass by, Yet, he too, as they vanish gradually per-ishes away. Yet another poet says:We take delight in every day that we have lived, Yet each day that passes is a portion (gone) of a lifetime.This is the view that every intelligent and sensible person ought to take. However, in-telligent and sensible people are few in this world.COURTESY: Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Time in the Life of a Muslim


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Letters & Opinions

and his ultimate criminal prosecution on various severe criminal accusations and eventual conviction is not ruled out. It is yet premature to conclude whether or not the charges against the former President are really genuine or politically motivated only, but the fact still remains that as a citizen of Pakistan at least he is lawfully entitled to be treated equal before the law and it is the solemn obligation of both the election commission and judiciary to adopt an unbiased approach towards him, which is free from any prejudice. This, however, is possible only where there is no element of any prejudgment while dealing with his cases, which I fear is found to be a unfriendly dream in relation to the former President, as both the supra authorities are all out to take out a pound of fl esh from his throat.

with Kalima (1000 times) on a weekend day just before one of the prayers with Jamaat participation. The announcement dates and rotation can be staggered in the different mosques, thereby falling on different months (but at a fi xed date) and every Muslim attending in each differ-ent mosque will be praying for his Mus-lim brother or sister who have departed within the community at large within the 3 month period of their departure from this earthly life. Our dedicated BCMA fu-neral director can provide the names. The impact of the prayers multiplied by the number of attendees can be phenomenal for the soul of the departed. And it will strengthen the bond between the Muslim brotherhood. As immigrants to Canada, we may not be fortunate to have many family, relatives and friends here to pray for us especially as we are a minority. This will ensure a strengthening bond and respect to all our community members throughout the low-er mainland or for that matter in BC. On that note, special thanks to all our Mus-

By: Nazanin ManglouriI am happy to see the diversity of mosques and Islamic centers in the lower mainland. It is indeed beautiful to see glorious es-tablishments springing all over the main-land. Strength comes from diversity and growth. Since all paths lead to the same destination which is to please Allah and His mankind so no matter which mosque we go to, Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey or Vancouver, the destination is the same. And we all work together for the same means. I have a humble request to make prayers in the memory of loved ones who have passed away in every mosque in the lower mainland with their name an-nouncements. I believe one good cause would be to re-member and pray for our members who have recently passed away. Perhaps every three months, the list of Muslims who have recently passed away, is given to the respective Imams, Islamic scholars and Jurists at all of the mosques & cent-ers of the lower mainland. The names announced and Surat-ul-Fatiha is recited

lims who devote all their Allah given re-sources in these most diffi cult times and provide dedicated and selfl ess services in funerals and support to loved ones. The Islamic scholars would know the best timing for holding this gathering or the correct numbers for reciting the Ka-lima (between Zuhr or Asr or Maghrib) according to the school of thought. It can be concluded with a Jamaat Salat and per-haps with some tea and dates (optional). This way all can attend the prayers dedi-cated to the deceased members of our community at large even if they dont know them personally. Especially with all the turmoil and diffi culties of todays world, we all need prayers to rest our soul in peace in the hereafter and our sins to be forgiven. Once again, I am not an authority on Is-lam, and for that matter a Muslim who has no deep knowledge whatsoever, so if you fi nd any defi ciencies, all of which are due to my own limitations, please do not take it to heart. I hope that our Imams and Islamic Jurists can fi nd a practical way to address such a noble cause in the lower mainland and make it a permanent prac-tice throughout our glorious establish-ments and if there is anything I can do to

assist in the process, it will be an honor. Ameen

Muslims Scholars and the Islamic Community of the Lower Mainland

Public Service AnnouncementPublic Service AnnouncementWhen attending community events, we are responsible for displaying the same exemplary behavior of a good citizen that we exhibit elsewhere. When attending community events, we are responsible for displaying the same exemplary behavior of a good citizen that we exhibit elsewhere.

Time is money so please be punctual when attending the events. Time is money so please be punctual when attending the events. When food is being served, please be patient when waiting for your turn. Take the food as per your need. By doing this, you can avoid When food is being served, please be patient when waiting for your turn. Take the food as per your need. By doing this, you can avoid

wasting food and also be fair to others.wasting food and also be fair to others. Use public washrooms with the same manners and care that you would in your own home. Use public washrooms with the same manners and care that you would in your own home.

Letter : Continued from pg 6


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Its election time again and with the objective of informing the Muslims as well as other mem-bers of our community voters to make an informed decision when they go to polls on May 14, The Miracle Media Group with the collaboration of Pakistan Canada Association held a highly suc-cessful all candidates debate at Pakistan House Surrey on April 24.As many as 12 candidates from different political par-ties attended this debate. NDP candidates included Harry Bains(Surrey-Newton), Jagrup Brar(Surrey-Fleetwood), Sue Hammell(Surrey-Green Timber) and Sylvia Bishop(Delta North). Liberals candidates included Marvin Hunt(Surrey-Panorama), Dr. Amrik Tung (Surrey-Green Timber), Sukhminder Virk (Sur-rey-Newton)and Kuljeet Kaur(Surrey-Whal-ley). Marvin & Sylyia left after the introductions for another commitments. Tim Binnema and Richard Hos-sein represented the Green party in debate. The debate also at-tracted candidates from a newly formed party BC Vision, which was represented by Jag Bhandari, candidate from Surrey-Whalley and Ali Zaidi (Surrey-Panorama).The Miracle great debate was moderated by M. Naseer Pirzada, he started on scheduled time and requested Maulana A.L. Naumani for recitation of the Holy Quran. After recitation he invited Mr. Arfan Malik president of Paki-stan Canada Association to welcome the candidates and guests at this great de-bate. Mr. Malik focused the importance of Vote and requested every voter to go and vote on May 14. Mr. Pirzada said, on April 16, 2011 at this stage we called the fi rst Federal elec-tion candidates debate under the Miracle and PCA ban-

ner., once again we want to bring awareness for voting in upcoming Provincial Election.He also reminded all candidates of the power of the Muslim Vote Bank in BC.Mr. Pirzada opened the fl oor for the fi rst round comprised of in-troductions , following this was a round where candidates talked about the platform of each party. It started in sequence from right side , the Liberals emphasized on the importance of reducing debt and their future policies for the betterment of BC Province resi-dents. On the other hand NDP emphasized that it was necessary to bring a change for the better because the current government has run out of ideas, is focused only on campaigning and will say anything to win. The Green Party talked about sustainable options and BC Vision had inter-esting policies around offering tax credits for families. . In the second round candidates got an opportunity to ask question from each other.This was an interest-ing round to warm-up the candi-dates prior to go for public ques-tions. One of the questions asked by Harry Bains, to his opponent

Sukhminder Virk of the Liberals was in regards to the TOIFA event and whether Virk had attended the event and if he did attend, did he pay for it? Virk didnt answer the question and instead dismissed it by saying it was a personal at-tack. Similarly Liberals asked the NDP why the party was not revealing its platform. The ques-tion was answered by Sue Ham-mell and she said each day since the writ has dropped Adrian Dix has been making key policy an-nouncements. She emphasized that NDPs platform has incor-porated key policies in regards to supporting struggling families, education, skills training, health and much more., after the mod-erator interfered the second round fi nished at this stage.Mr. Pirzada announced for break. During the break Magrib Prayer was led by Maulana Naumani fol-lowed by tjedinner and refresh-ment.In the third round, the audience got an opportunity to ask ques-tions from the candidates. The moderator told the format of question(1-2 minutes) and answer time (2-3 minutes ) will be given and no one can ask the other ques-

tion and no one repeat the same issue unless the time permitted. It is surprised in Q & A session, the fi rst two questions were raised by a young 10 yrs girl Fatima Nadeem and 6 years old Furqan about the education and future plan for class rooms sizes and libraries. By this over 25 ques-tions has been raised to all the candidates. Debate was carried until the interest of voters and candidates and it took about 100 minutes. The 25 question asked from publicc were mostly related to; Education, Universities tui-tion fee, Health system, shortage of doctors and staff, Credential of immigrants, New comers jobs plan, Tax payers money use, Fis-cal plan, Budget defi cits, control-ling debt, Small business, TOIFA Bollywood movies in BC, , Sell-

ing BC land at low prices, BC Place, BC Ferries, Violence & use of drugs in Youth and its con-trol, Whalley area problems, Ter-rorist labels on Muslim as well as on Islam, BC Cancer control pol-icy, Environmental control, Peo-ple moving from BC to another province for their jobs, Minimum wages setup, Legal Aid, Trans-link, Gas prices, Hate crime, etc. After,a warm Q &A session, in the last round each candidate was given a chance of giving an intro-ductory speech to briefl y describe about party platform. Mr. Pirzada ended the this informative, suc-cessful deabate and thanked the candidates for their participa-tion. At the end Mr. Malik Arfan thanked to all from Pakistan Can-ada Association plat form.

Jamadi ul Thani 23, 1434 May 3, 201313 L O C A L

Candidates Great Debate organised by Miracle and PCA


VIRKSukhminder S. ELECT:

Surrey NewtonMLA Candidate for

BC LIBERALSTogether. Were Stronger.

/sukhmindervirkbc

@sukhmindervirk

Authorized by the Financial Agent for the BC Liberal Party. Tel: 604.606.6000

Advance poll: May 8-11

Election Day: MAY 14for more info:tel: 604-442-VIRK (8475)[email protected]

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Leaders Televised Debate Result of April 29

Authorized by Sarbjeet Singh, Financial Agent, 604-779-1818

Dix the clear debate winner, say CBC Vote Compass users, Less than a third pick Christy Clark, other two leaders way be-hind More than half the people who took CBCs Vote Compass right after the lead-ers debate say NDP Leader Adrian Dix won outright, while less than a third give the nod to Liberal Leader Christy Clark.According to Vote Compass, 54 per cent of respondents said Dix won the debate, compared to 32 per cent who felt that Clark performed better.The other two party leaders didnt get much traction among those who used the Vote Compass app.Of all the Green and Conservative support-ers who responded, only about half thought their respective leaders had won.The fi ndings are based on 1,623 respond-ents to Vote Compass from April 28 to 29. Respondents were asked if they watched the televised debate and to indicate which of the B.C. party leaders they thought won and lost the debate. A margin of error does not apply and the

data was weighted using the latest popula-tion estimates to be a true representation of opinion at the time of the fi eld.B.C. party leaders jockey for position in televised debateEconomy, defi cit, environment dominate election debateB.C.s four major party leaders squared off in the only televised leaders debate of the provincial election campaign Monday night, each vying for votes in the quest to become the provinces next premier.The debate, heated at times but mostly civil, was dominated by familiar themes: balancing the budget; the environment; and the economy.B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark was put on the defensive early in the debate about her choice to run a red light with her son and a newspaper reporter in the car. She apologized again, admitting she made a mistake by treating the light as four-way stop.There is no other answer for the people of British Columbia other than to say that it

was wrong. I was wrong to do it, she said.And I strive, as a parent, to set a great ex-ample for my son and I didnt. It doesnt matter what time of day it was. I shouldnt have done it.Clark went on to tout her partys position on balancing the budget, paying down the pro-vincial debt and growing the economy sticking to the script she has been following throughout the election campaign.We have balanced our budget and we are putting British Columbia on a path to being debt-free.Clark once again referenced the NDPs $3-billion platform another familiar re-frain tackled by the CBC Reality Check team last week.CBCs Reality Check team fi nds the Liber-

als math doesnt add upClark then turned to NDP Leader Adrian Dix, calling into question his partys posi-tion on natural resource projects.What the premiers saying is not true, and the premier knows it, he responded.This is their campaign. Theyre on the at-tack all the time. I support liquefi ed natural gas. I support the skills training that we will need to build liquefi ed natural gas, to ensure that young people and everyone across Brit-ish Columbia can benefi t through jobs from that project.The two leaders also sparred on the prov-inces child poverty record, its credit rating and job creation.Source: April 29, CBC News

Abacus Data Poll: by Sacha Peter April 29, 2013An Abacus Data Poll (their link, local copy), commissioned by Sun News Network, sur-veying 1,042 internet panelists (note: not a random, probability based sample), from April 23-26, 2013, had the following voter intention results (excluding the 12% unde-cided):BC NDP 43%BC Liberal 33%BC Green 12%BC Conservative 9%Other 3% AnalysisThis is the fi rst poll, to my knowledge, that Abacus Data has released public data on in the BC Election, so it is diffi cult to make time-based comparisons with previous polls they have conducted. The results are within the ballpark of other polling agencies, indi-

cating that the NDP has a signifi cant lead A 43/33 election result would ordinarily leave the NDP with a comfortable majority government position (about 60 seats), but far from the 2001-NDP style wipeout or the 1991 Social Credit wipeout for the BC Lib-eral party.Looking at their regional split numbers, even though the sample numbers are incredibly small, they do appear to indicate that the Greens have 24% on Vancouver Island, ac-cording to the 160 people that were polled in that area. The NDP and BC Liberals are surprisingly close in the Lower Mainland in this survey, with 37% supporting the BC Liberals and 40% supporting the NDP with a 563 person count. Source: http://bc2013.comWho will win the May 14 BC election? Lets See!


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Jamadi ul Thani 23, 1434 May 3, 201316 S P E C I A L

Miracle Special: Every Single Vote Matters

Garden City Office:604.276.8868 - #150 - 8040

Garden City Road, Richmond, BCV6Y 2N9

Hamilton Office: 604.710.9533 - #110 - 23200

Gilley Road, Richmond, BC V6V 2L6

Learn more about your right to vote and how you can participate in the election process:

604-276-8868

Authorized by Kim Sorensen, Financial Agent for Linda Reid. (604-276-8868)

Lets keep it going.Together.

Election Day - May 14Mehmood Awan and Linda Reid at the BCL Charity Dinner, Feb. 21 2013

Re-Elec

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facebook.com/ReidforBC

[email protected]

Advance Voting: May 8 - 11

twitter.com/ReidforBC

Visit Us!

Linda Reidfor MLA, Richmond East

One man. one vote is the most fairest method to choose leaders in any demo-cratic society. Voting is patriotic right to choose your representative government. A citizens vote is a secret ballot. Voting is the most important exercise a citizen will do as a responsible citizen of a democratic nation. In a functioning democracy, be-ing able to vote allows citizens to express their political opinions by voting a particu-lar policy or candidate that has your best interest in mind. By this, you can decide your very own future by opting a candidate who might speculate your own aspects and possibly those people who share the same opinion with you. Voting is a right of all eligible voters in any country. It is seen as the normal or typical form of political activity and it remains the primary means of political participa-tion. The goal of any voting system is to establish the intent of each individual voter and translate those intents into a fi nal tally or reality. According to Abraham Lincoln; No man is good enough to govern anoth-er man without that others consent This further explains that in a truly democratic society, governments are instituted among qualifi ed and responsible men who derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Another ex-American president, Lyndon Johnson have this to say in support of Abraham Lincoln that The right to vote is the most basic right, without which all others are meaningless. Voting is the fi rst duty of democracy. Government is based on citizens votes for representation. In a democracy, your vote is your voice and the act of standing up for what you believe. Voting helps to preserve our way of life.The elections for the formation of the new BC legislature are slated for May 14, 2013.

Whereas both of the key contesting parties (Viz- the Liberals BC or the NDP) are la-boring overtime to woo the electorate for the formation of the next government at Victoria, but which of them emerges vic-torious at the end is yet to be determined. Nonetheless, it is of the essence for every voter to cast his/her vote, for every single vote matters in the elections. So far as the local Muslim populace is concerned, it is of crucial importance for it to go to the des-ignated polling stations of their respective areas to exercise its hard-earned right of franchise that has been bestowed upon the people being the citizens of the country of its adoption. Every vote matters in the dem-ocratic set up of the government, where the people are its real architects. This is the precise reason that the Miracle newspaper is strenuously creating awareness in the Is-lamic community for its positive and ener-getic participation in the electoral process, may that be at the Federal level or else at the Local or Provincial levels. It is, how-ever, regretted to point out that despite the repeated wake up calls the local Muslim Ummah does not deem appropriate to pay heed to the wake up alarms and let the op-portunity of sending more of its representa-tives in the provincial legislature slip out of its hands. Consequently, the representation of this community at all the levels of gov-ernance is devastatingly much below its proportion. This is appallingly dismaying picture in comparison to the other ethnic communities around. Now when the time for getting something substantial has prac-tically run out owing to the fault of none other than the community itself, it is futile to cry over the spilt milk. All than can (and ought to) be done at the moment is to work hard for the success of the Muslim candi-

dates (no matter which party they belong to or where lie the roots of their origin) in the fray by consolidating all the Muslim votes in their respective areas and bringing the voters out of their homes for casting their votes at the polling b o o t s . P u t t i n g together of every s o l i t a r y vote matters for winning the elections in the same way as the little drops of wa-ter are required to contribute their might to make an ocean. The youth volunteers of both the sexes can accom-plish this productive job conveniently and effectively. Besides, it is equally impera-tive for all the organizations of the com-munity operating in this area to formulate some tangible plan and educate the people for future on this issue of crucial impor-tance, as the cycle for the forthcoming gen-eral elections at different levels continues to roll ahead on the footing of four years term under the law.If You Dont Vote, DONTFor every one that complains that they dont like how the government is running things now and for every one that thinks the government is on the right track, today is your day Election Day. Nobody in this world has the right to complain about how our government is working, how our representatives are voting or how corrupt our state government is unless he or she has voted. Voting for our representatives is the cornerstone of our democracy, and we do have the power to change how gov-

ernment works through our vote. Voting takes very little time, and if

you did not vote for a candidate you should not complain, because you did

not even take the time to vote for those people who make the decisions. Howev-er, the sad fact of this world is that most people do not vote. They do not think it is worth the time; they dont think their one

vote will matter, and they think that there is nothing that can be done to fi x the way politics are now. Those people are wrong. While change is never easy or fast it can be done, and voters have proven they can speak with one very loud voice. The only thing someone can do that is worse than not voting is voting blindly. Voters need to make sure they are sending someone into offi ce they think can do the best job. Read the newspaper today, and get a grasp on the people running for offi ce, and then go into the voting booth. Better yet, take a minute right now to contemplate what issues are the most important to you and your family, and then take a look at what the candidates believe in. If you dont know what you believe in, dont complain when someone does it for you. In short, go vote. These are the people that represent you in government and make de-cisions that directly affect your life. Do the job right, and make sure they are represent-atives you believe in.


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Jamadi ul Thani 23, 1434 May 3, 201318 H O M E

By Kazim Jafary Down payment to-wards your dream new home can come either from your own resources or it might also be gifted by your nearest and dearest ones such as parents. A new court ruling about gift letter from parents which accompanies gifted down payment has offered some expert advice to brokers and borrowers in the mortgage market. A few days ago, there has been a nice article on this subject by Donald Horne on mort-gagebrokernews.ca, which I would like to share with Miracle readers. The expectation is if (a parent

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